Anglo-American 2017 thermal coal production for export falls

Miner Anglo-American PLC reported a drop in export thermal coal production for the seaborne market from its operations in Colombia and South Africa, the company said Thursday.

South African sales volumes dropped 3% to 18.6 million mt with continued productivity improvements at underground operations more than offset by a self-enforced 100-hour safety stoppage at all operations, the company said in an earnings statement.

Anglo-American said the thermal coal market had experienced the positive price effects of Chinese domestic coal production rationalization, which supported coal imports into China and lifted seaborne pricing.

Saleable export volumes from Colombia fell 2% to 10.6 million mt in 2017.

Anglo-American’s export production of thermal coal in 2017 was 29 million mt, down 3% on the year. The company said it aimed to export 29-31 million mt/year in 2018-2020.

The miner also Thursday posted $3.54 billion in thermal coal revenues in 2017, up 30% on the previous year.

The London/Johannesburg-based company said the boost in revenue across the board was due to improved commodity prices in 2017.

The weighted average unit cost for Anglo’s South African thermal coal operations rose 29% to $44/mt, with an export price increase of 27% to an average of $76/mt FOB. The company attributed the rise in export costs to the stronger South African rand in 2017.

For the company’s Colombian Cerrejon operation, unit cost in 2017 rose 11% to $31/mt, with an average price of $75/mt FOB, up 34% on year. Total capital expenditure on all coal products in 2017 was $568 million, down 7.3% from 2016.

Export volume for sales fell 4.3% on the year to 19.8 million mt, with unit costs increasing 16.4% to $61/mt.